Eglise Sainte-Quitterie
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise Sainte-Quitterie, located in Martillac (Gironde), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Martillac, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.7138, -0.5422
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00083620
Nestled in the heart of the Bordeaux vineyard, the église Sainte-Quitterie de Martillac reveals an intact twelfth-century Saintonge Romanesque style, with its sculpted portal and its cul-de-four apse characteristic of the medieval Bordelais.
History
Set amidst the vines of the Pessac-Léognan appellation, the church of Sainte-Quitterie in Martillac stands like a golden stone sentinel, a discreet but striking example of Romanesque architecture in the Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1925, it soberly embodies the spirit of 12th-century rural buildings, away from the tourist hustle and bustle that sweeps through the major towns and cities of Gironde. What immediately strikes visitors is the stylistic coherence of the whole: the church has not undergone the radical transformations that have disfigured so many similar buildings. The carefully cut local limestone gives the façade a honey-coloured hue that is typical of the inland Bordeaux region. The flat buttresses that punctuate the sides of the nave, the sparingly spaced semi-circular arched openings and the semi-circular apse facing the east create a building of perfect architectural logic. The interior, with its single nave covered by a stone cradle, is an invitation to meditate and observe. The historiated capitals, carved in fine limestone, depict interlacing plants and animal figures inherited from the Romanesque repertoire of Aquitaine with an endearing naivety. The light filtering through the narrow windows in the apse lends the space a rare atmosphere of meditation. The outside setting adds to the charm of the visit: the church is surrounded by a small village cemetery, with its steles tilted by the centuries, bounded by a dry stone wall, with the neat rows of vineyards as a backdrop. In spring, when the vines are budding, or in autumn during the grape harvest, the scene takes on a pictorial beauty that the painters of the Bordeaux school would not deny.
Architecture
The church of Sainte-Quitterie in Martillac is fully in keeping with the Romanesque architecture of Saintonge and Bordeaux in the 12th century, a style characterised by the sobriety of the plan, the quality of the local limestone and the discreet richness of the ornamental sculpture. The layout is classically composed of a single nave, originally un-vaulted or covered by a barrel vault, extended by a choir bay and closed by a semicircular apse facing due east in accordance with liturgical tradition. The exterior reveals the stylistic features typical of the Aquitaine Romanesque style: flat buttresses lining the eaves walls, a cornice sculpted with historiated modillions under the roof, and a western portal whose round-arched voussoirs rest on columns with capitals. These capitals, carved from fine local limestone, feature motifs typical of the Gironde Romanesque repertoire: stylised acanthus leaves, geometric interlacing, and perhaps a few fantastical human or animal heads. The apse, whose narrow bays follow the curvature of the wall, is the most representative piece of architecture in the building. The materials used are exclusively local: asteriated limestone, a typical Bordeaux stone extracted from quarries on the right bank of the Garonne, gives the whole its warm ochre to golden hue, depending on the time of day and the amount of sunlight. The roof, probably covered with canal tiles or stone slabs in the southern tradition, completes the homogeneity of this building, which remains a prime example of rural Gironde Romanesque architecture.
Related Figures
Sainte Quitterie — martyre wisigothique du Ve-VIe siècle, sainte tutélaire de l'édifice dont le culte est répandu sur les routes de pèlerinage vers Saint-Jacques-de-CompostelleAliénor d'Aquitaine (1122-1204) — duchesse sous le règne de laquelle s'épanouit la grande période de construction romane en BordelaisHenri II Plantagenêt (1133-1189) — roi d'Angleterre et duc d'Aquitaine, sous l'autorité duquel les paroisses rurales bordelaises connurent une relative prospéritéLes évêques de Bordeaux (XIIe siècle) — figures ecclésiastiques qui supervisaient la construction et la consécration des édifices paroissiaux de leur diocèseProsper Mérimée (1803-1870) — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques dont l'œuvre de recensement du patrimoine médiéval prépara la reconnaissance officielle d'édifices comme Sainte-Quitterie
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Sainte-Quitterie located?
Eglise Sainte-Quitterie is located in Martillac, Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
When was Eglise Sainte-Quitterie built?
Eglise Sainte-Quitterie dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Eglise Sainte-Quitterie open to visitors?
Eglise Sainte-Quitterie is currently closed to visitors.